Page 84 of Reckless Harmony

A slight grin crossed Gideon’s face. “I’ll pass on the message once he’s sober.”

“What a fucking shitshow,” Rayna muttered before rubbing at her cheek.

Gideon examined her closely. “You sure you don’t want to go to the hospital, Rayna?”

“I’m sure,” she said. “It’s just a bruised elbow.”

“And cheek,” Gideon said. He sat back in the chair. “I think you should press charges, Rayna. If Mr. Stark hadn’t been here, Louis would have really hurt you.”

“He’s right,” Stark said. “You need to press charges.”

“No, what I need to do is get that piece of shit off my property,” Rayna said wearily. “I appreciate what you’re saying, Sheriff, but we both know Louis is a coward. Once he’s sober and realizes that I can and will press charges against him, he’ll leave Stark alone and slink away like the slime he is.”

“I don’t care what he says or does to me,” Stark said heatedly. “Rayna, the issue is your safety.”

“He won’t do this again,” she said.

“You can’t possibly know that,” he snapped.

She gave him a look before glancing at the sheriff. “Can we talk about this later?”

“No,” Stark said. “We’re talking about this now.”

Rayna sighed before smiling faintly at Gideon. “Is there anything else you need from me, Sheriff?”

He shook his head. “No. You and Mr. Stark have given your statements to Darryl, and that’s all we need. I’ll call you tomorrow once Louis is sober and I’ve talked to him.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Goodnight, Rayna.” Sheriff Walker nodded to Stark. “Mr. Stark.”

“Goodnight, Sheriff.” Stark stayed where he was, telling himself repeatedly to keep his cool as Rayna walked the sheriff to the door. She returned and, without looking at him, stuffed the frozen peas back into the freezer.

She tightened the belt on her robe and crossed her arms over her torso before staring at him. “Thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

Silence descended, and she gave him an awkward smile. “Okay, well -”

“Why did you open the door?” he asked as that slow pulse of anger beat in his temples.

“What?” She frowned at him.

“Why did you open the door?” he repeated. “You’re a woman living alone, and you opened the door to a guy who hates you.”

“Did you forget what I said to the sheriff?” Her body had gone stiff. “I didn’t know it was Louis.”

“That’s not the point,” he snarled. “You shouldn’t be opening the door at all at that time of night.”

“Are you victim shaming me?” she asked.

He raked his hands through his hair. “Oh, for God’s sake… No, I am not victim shaming you, Ms. Abrams. What I’m asking is for you to be smarter, to use that damn brain of yours and not open the door when you have no idea who’s out there.”

“People drop off animals on my doorstep all the time,” she said. “It’s the middle of winter. Do you expect me just to let them freeze to death in their cardboard boxes?”

“I expect you to use common sense for once and start caring about your safety more than some random animal that is not your responsibility!”

“I run a goddamn rescue!” she shouted. She stalked forward until their bodies nearly touched, glaring up at him. “I do what I do to save animals, not to let them freeze to death in my fucking yard, and just because I have one bad experience doesn’t mean -”

---